If practice indeed makes perfect, the Senators should have no problem breaking the puck out of their own zone Friday night against the Boston Bruins.

In the wake of their horrible 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday, Senators' coach Paul MacLean drew up a simple practice plan for the players at the Canadian Tire Centre, one many hadn't seen since minor hockey days.

While every Senators' practice and morning skate starts with them retrieving the puck, the 43 minutes the club spent on the ice Wednesday was made unique by the fact the players did the same drill over, over, over and over.

MacLean was trying to send a not-so-subtle message.

"We need to get better at it," said MacLean. "The games that we struggle in we don't get out of our end. A lot has to do with the opposition and the way they come after us, but it's also on us in that don't execute with the puck.

"We don't make the right reads at the right time, lots of times we have people in the right spots and we don't find them so we're not talking and we're not listening or we're lying to one another saying we are talking and listening.

"Those are issues that we have when we don't play well so it's something that we have to continue to work on every day. It's a whole team thing. It's incumbent on all six guys on the ice to have a good plan and find a way to get out of our zone. You can't just play the game in your zone because bad things happen."

Centre Jason Spezza said the club has to dictate the play.

"It's about getting out of our end quick," he said. "We're spending too much time in our zone. If you don't have the puck, you've got to want the puck and all five guys have to want the puck and work to get open for the guy who has it."

And, bad things have been happening to the Senators far too often for MacLean. Though some thought he didn't punish the players by making them skate laps, doing the same drill certainly indicated his displeasure.

MacLean said there was no need for a skate with no pucks.

"Would that make me feel better going home? It's not about that," said MacLean. "It's about finding a solution. Is it acceptable to play the way we did (Tuesday)? Nope. We've addressed that.

"We don't have to line up on the boards or go to Wally World or go up and down the lines to prove a point. We're all big enough that we can discuss it and get that sorted out ... It's not acceptable to start the game and play the way we did for 60 minutes. We have to fix it.

"We can't just be inconsistent. We have to be more consistent in a positive sense."

Centre Kyle Turris said the Senators can't afford another effort like the one they had against the Flyers.

"It's going to happen once a year but you've got to make sure it only happens once a year," said Turris. "It's something that we went over with a fine tooth comb. We're going to make changes, we're going to get better.

"It's disappointing, it's embarrassing and it's something that you shouldn't let happen. Coming out with the lack of energy and execution we had is not acceptable. Everybody knew we played a crap game."

MacLean said the Senators will have a good idea where they stand once they close out their next stretch of games. They'll face top teams like Boston and Detroit in that stretch.

"We believe we have the makings of a real good team here," said MacLean. "But if we don't ... We play another 10 games and you are what you are in this league. We're going to find out then and if we do things differently we will.

"We faced adversity last year through injury. This year we're facing adversity of a different kind where it's self-inflicted or maybe the players aren't good enough that we have. We have to find those things out and we have to play the games."

Coach Paul MacLean drills breakout plan into Ottawa Senators' heads

If practice indeed makes perfect, the Senators should have no problem breaking the puck out of their own zone Friday night against the Boston Bruins.

In the wake of their horrible 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday, Senators' coach Paul MacLean drew up a simple practice plan for the players at the Canadian Tire Centre, one many hadn't seen since minor hockey days.

While every Senators' practice and morning skate starts with them retrieving the puck, the 43 minutes the club spent on the ice Wednesday was made unique by the fact the players did the same drill over, over, over and over.